May 30-31st 2009 at Dutch Springs
Well, I made it up to Dutch Springs this weekend. We had a couple of Open Water students. I got there after the gates were open due to some traffic on 295 and my desire to stay in bed for just five more minutes…. I got there and went into to update my status to INSTRUCTOR. (YEAH) At first they couldn’t find the paperwork for my proof of insurance. So they gave me an Uninsured Instructor card, I walked outside and found Kevin. He said He had the paperwork. It was on his desk. I had to get a new card already. I found out that my whole family gets cards. So Bree and Chase came in and got their cards. The girls just love the Lil man. It was cute to see him get his first ID card. We finally made it inside around 9. I met up with Clay and the Students, Brian and Brendan (my Company Commander). We briefed the first dive. We did a direct descent to the platform and a tour to the Bus. Some buoyancy issues were clearly identified and discussed during the debrief. We brief the second dive. On the platform, we did the skills and toured the North Wall to see the Graffiti. I found a Divebuddy.com sticker on the bottom (I found out where it came from later.) We stopped at the Peace sign and turned around. It was a great dive. I was pleased with the student’s skills. We discussed the dive and filled out our log books.
Bree and I got a room at the Comfort Inn not far from Dutch Springs. We headed down to Reading for a Graduation party. A fun time was had by all. We made back to the hotel and watched Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. We went to bed early. I was woken up at about 3 am by a beeping from the Viper remote. That was the impact tone. I got dress and walked outside and something doesn’t look right with the truck passenger side rear window. It isn’t there. NOT AGAIN. I walked up and saw glass on the ground. I look around and see two guys four vehicles over. The one guy says they got me too. As I walk away, I said I am calling the cops. He says you do that. I got the manager to call the locals. I walk back outside and wait for the cops and the two guys are gone. @#$%&%$#@ THOSE WERE THE GUYS. The cops show up. We verify that the second vehicle doesn’t belong to the guys I talked to. I figure out that the only things clearly missing are my camera and Bree’s camera. I was furious. The cops took know prints. Nothing. I was unimpressed I have been robbed twice in less than a month. I was not feeling to positive by the time I got back to bed. DANG THE BAD LUCK!!!
I made it to Dutch Springs after opening again. Bree didn’t want to stay at the hotel alone. Me, Bree Chase and my truck with the cardboard where a window had been the day before arrived late again. I got set up. Clay had already briefed dive 3. I got a back brief from the students. We did some service skills and down to the platform for the skills. They went well. We did some Buddy Breathing. We toured the Bus, the Cessna, and the Silver Comet. It was a good dive. We saw a bunch of fish on the island. We discussed the dive and prepped for the 4th dive. We went in on the side by the Aquapark. We descended to the platform. We knocked out the last of the skills and toured the Silver Comet in search of fish. None could be found. We followed the bottom to the North Wall. We turned around at the Divebuddy.com Sticker. We ascended from our safety stop and High Fives were distributed. Two brand new Open Water divers. It was a good time. Paperwork was completed and everyone headed home with plans for AOW in the near future. I called my insurance company and got the ball rolling for that. I headed home to watch Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
I am glad I didn’t react different to the guys in the parking lot. I might not be writing this Blog, if I had.